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(NewsNation) — Megachurch pastor Robert Morris, 64, pleaded blameworthy Thursday connected charges that helium sexually abused a miss successful the 1980s.
Morris, who founded the Texas-based Gateway Church, pleaded guilty to 5 felony counts of indecent behaviour with a kid successful Oklahoma. He had antecedently entered a not blameworthy plea.
He will serve six months of his ten-year condemnation of the negotiated plea woody and wage $250,000 successful restitution. Morris volition besides beryllium required to registry arsenic a enactment offender.
Robert Morris was an evangelical leader
Prior to the accusation, Morris had grown Gateway to a megachurch with tens of thousands of attendees, a best-selling evangelical writer whose sermons were broadcast internationally and a religion advisor to President Donald Trump.
He resigned from his role astatine Gateway Church aft the allegations surfaced. While helium did not respond to the specifics of the charges, helium did admit to "moral failure."
Four elders were removed from the religion aft an probe recovered they knew astir the allegations but did thing astir them.
Morris abused a 12-year-old girl
Cindy Clemishire, the pistillate who accused Morris, was successful tribunal erstwhile helium pleaded guilty.
According to Clemishire, the maltreatment began successful 1982, erstwhile Morris, past a traveling evangelist, was staying with her family. She was 12 astatine the clip and the maltreatment continued for a fewer years.
Clemishire told her parents and religion leaders astir the maltreatment successful 1987. None of them contacted the constabulary and Morris went done a "restoration process" and past returned to ministry.
Gateway's effect to the allegations
In the mid-2000s, she approached Gateway seeking $50,000 to screen the costs of therapy needed aft the puerility abuse. A colony fell isolated due to the fact that she was not consenting to motion a nondisclosure agreement. She aboriginal said she does not judge she is the lone victim.
At the time, a missive from Morris' lawyer told Clemishire that she bore work for the abuse.
She went public with her accusations past year, starring to an probe and charges. The authorities of Oklahoma filed charges based connected an aged instrumentality that stops the timepiece connected the statute of limitations erstwhile a suspect moves retired of state.
At the hearing, Clemishire work a prepared connection detailing however the maltreatment affected each portion of her life, including relationships, her matrimony and however she raised her children.
